Little Tokyo - Japan Arcade

Thanks to apocaknits on flickr for the photo. CC license.

Japan Arcade, now this place brings out a lot of memories and a lot of feelings. Memories of youth and friends long gone, and melancholic feelings about how things change with the passing of time... But before I continue poetry night at the country club, I have to apologize for the lack of images for this arcade. Though I came here a lot, I never took pictures or videos. Don't worry, there are many images and articles and other blogs that capture the inside. If you are all curious on how it looked, I suggest checking them out as well. Yeah, I really don't want to ripoff anyone's images that they used on their own blogs and articles, so I'll just use CC images. Anyway, back to Japan Arcade.

This arcade, despite being small, hidden, and eerily isolated from the rest of Little Tokyo, was famous back while it was still open. It was known as the arcade with Japanese imports and people from all over Los Angeles and beyond came to play quirky games that didn't exist anywhere else at the time. Taiko drumming, rhythm games, drifting racing games, and gimmicky games that used a keyboard were novelties in the west at the time, and despite how popular they are now, back in the mid to late 2000s, they were quite a new phenomenon.

I started going around 2009 as a high school student. I either made the hour long walk or took my bicycle, as the Little Tokyo Galleria was not too far from my house. I have many good memories of bringing my friends here, staying late and my parents picking me up around midnight, how I almost got hit by a car a block away, and drawing a small crowd around me when I was playing Ms. Pac-Man. Good old days.

Little Tokyo Shopping Center as it was when I used to visit. 2011.

 

More or less how it looks like now.

Location and Environment:

Circa 2022

Many Yelp reviewers and bloggers or people in general who visited Japan Arcade always note how isolated and hidden Japan Arcade was. It was located inside the Little Tokyo Galleria, formerly known as the Little Tokyo Shopping Center, on the second floor, at the very corner, directly across Max Karaoke. Most of Little Tokyo's bustle starts on 2nd Street and Central Avenue; the Little Tokyo Galleria is on 3rd Street and Alameda. Despite 2nd Street only being a block away, the Little Tokyo Galleria felt oddly isolated, especially a decade ago. 

There was nothing around it at the time; just apartments to the north, the Arts District and warehouses to the east, and the outskirts of skid-row to the west and south.

As for the galleria itself, there was not much to do from what I can remember. X-Lanes wasn't there yet and I can't recall if Max Karaoke let minors in. As a broke high school student, there was only the arcade and the grocery store downstairs. 

In 2009, nothing was better than playing some games, going downstairs to the grocery store for some cheap beef bowl, then finishing the night gaming some more. The galleria really was a great place to spend a Friday night after school.

I don't know when this place opened up, but I've heard many say it's been there since the late 90s. The first mention of this place I found was a review that has long since been taken down but is still up on the internet archive. It's from 2005, some 8 years before it closed.

The Games and the Scene:

Japan Arcade was known for its Japanese imports, the most recognizable of which were the rhythm games, the racing games (Initial D was what everyone talked about), and fighting games. Over the years, the games rotated out and new ones were put in. I wasn't there in the mid 2000s, but a lot of people said that Street Fighter III was a big draw, with many good players and pros coming in to accept challenges and to practice.

In the late 2000s and early 2010s, the fighting game scene was still big, but the game I remember everyone playing was Street Fighter 4. There were two big screens and seats in front of the joysticks. My friend and I wanted to play against each other, but we didn't know that one screen was player one, and the other screen was player two. We put a token in and to our surprise, the guy sitting on the player 2 screen was like, "oh, it's one on one, it's just two screens." And let me say that we both took him on and we got demolished so bad, my friend got up and ran out the arcade. Good memories. I don't know any of the names of the people who went there, but some were well known enough that when they would play, there would be a line, a queue of people waiting to take him on.

The other games were the rhythm games, Ms. Pac-Man, Japanese imported shoot-em-ups and other fighting games. The racing games were also a big draw. Initial D was there, and there used to be another racing game where you could save your progress in a card. When you played again, you inserted the card, and your score or car or whatever would be saved on it. I don't know if such cards were provided to players here in Los Angeles though.

This arcade was also one of the last businesses that would close for the night. It was one of the places a young teen could hang out in well into the night that wasn't a party. If I remember correctly, they closed at 11pm, but I swear that at times, they would close even later. It wouldn't be a rare sight seeing kids, 15 or 16, there at eleven o' clock at night.

Though arcades were almost dead at the time, this place stood strong and had many loyal customers until its shutdown on November, 2013.

Many people thought it was because of X-Lanes coming in and the owner didn't want to compete against such a big corporate establishment, others say that the owner simply retired. Whatever the case was, the arcade closed down, and with it, took a lot of the charm that made Little Tokyo a real slice of Japan in the west.

Japan Arcade Token.

Final Thoughts:

There isn't much to say that hasn't been said already. I really suggest checking out other people's blogs and articles on this establishment as they provide a unique perspective and insight and are much more accurate with the details. I am mostly going off memory and it's been almost ten years since it has closed. Preserving the memories over the years, there are many Yelp reviews, blogs, YouTube videos, and tweets; despite this place being closed for about a decade now, Japan Arcade is very well documented.

Since Japan Arcade's closing, Japanese arcade games have become popular in this contemporary revival of the arcade gaming scene. Rhythm games and racing games are a staple at Round 1 and Dave and Buster, and I have seen other places start up similar establishments with Japanese import cabinets, such as "Game Nest Arcade" in Las Vegas. But that's all here and now. Back then though, when arcades were seen as things of the past, Japan Arcade was there.

Huntington Park - Underground Arcade

An almost inconspicuous sign.

Google street maps image looking in from Pacific Blvd.

So the first arcade I want to talk about is the one that is the nearest and dearest to me. It's the Underground Arcade in Huntington Park. Honestly, I don't think the arcade ever had an official name, but to those who knew of it, we all called it the "Underground Arcade" or, "Arcade Fantaztico".

The arcade is long gone now, closed around 2017 or 2018 if I'm remembering correctly, but it used to be located at the corner of Saturn Avenue and Pacific Boulevard. The building was like a mini-mall, with many jewelry stores and clothing shops, but coming in, there were stairs to the left that led to the basement, that's where the Underground Arcade was.

I used to go there often in my mid to late 20s. At that time, it was on its last legs. For three dollars, you could go in and play all the machines you wanted or all the pool you wanted for no extra-charge. Sadly, many machines were out of order, they were tagged up, there were empty beer cans scattered about, and the lights were never turned off anymore, creating a glare while playing. 

The underground arcade was a legacy arcade. No ticket games, no beer or bar (as in being a bar arcade, because people sneaked beer in all the time), or it wasn't part of a store that had arcade machines on the side; just straight up arcade gaming.

Circa 1996-1998

I don't know when underground arcade was opened. I tried looking online for archives or postings, but not much came up. I first went there when I was between four year to six years old. My dad took me and that was between 1996 to 1998. The arcade was already established and it was already a well known spot where all kids from the surrounding SELA cities flocked to, and even kids from as far as my town, South Central, already knew about it. My theory is that it has been open since at least the late 80s, early 90s. I'll definitely ask about it next time I find myself in Huntington Park.

 

 

 

Environment and Aesthetics:

SFII Turbo

This arcade was located in Huntington Park, right on Pacific Boulevard . The streets are decently clean, and the town is quaint and homely. Nothing has ever happened to me there. Parking was easy to come by back in the mid-2010s, so I always parked in the neighborhoods and made the 5-minute walk to the arcade. Pacific Boulevard is a major shopping area so when you were done with the arcades, there was still a lot to do; window shop, grab a bite to eat, go to the double-feature movie theater only a short walk away. Huntington Park has a charm that can't be replicated.

As for the arcade itself. Well, just look at the Yelp and Google reviews from when it was still open. Firstly, visual wise, it definitely looked like an arcade. In the old days there were rows and rows of games, pool tables, and claw games, some vending machines, a restroom on the side, a very simple set up, but they had so many games that it got you really excited just to be there. All the walls had murals of comics, movies, video game characters, etc. and I really do regret not photographing all of them before it closed down.

Evident graffiti.

The Underground Arcade always had this very strong smell that I can't really explain. Some people said it smelled like mold, others like mildew, others say it smelled like dirty laundry. Honestly, yes, it smelled pretty bad down there, and there was always a smell of detergent or pinol, or bleach that tried to counteract it, but the bad smell never left. And the smell wasn't a new phenomenon from the arcade's last days, the bad smell was there since the 90s.

As time passed, the arcade's aesthetics began to change. There were less machines to play, they were all covered in graffiti, defunct machines were corralled in the back, and honestly, I feel like most people went there to play billiards.
 

The Games and the Scene:

The arcade cabinets right before the arcade shut down were in bad condition. Many were out of service, covered in graffiti, and piled in the back gathering dust. The ones that did work ranged from good to very bad. They were covered in graffiti, some had buttons that didn't work, and with the lights always on, there was a bit of difficulty playing with glare on the screen. There was a bit of a fighting game scene, mostly centered around the King of Fighter machines and Marvel vs. Capcom, but for the most part, the arcade was deserted most days, even in the weekends. When people did come, it was mostly for the pool tables.

Most people who went there were nice and friendly and would play fighting games with you despite being strangers, but I wont deny that there was quite a bit of delinquency in there. A lot of teens would ditch school to hang out there and it was a well known ditching spot; even kids from my neck of the woods of South Central would take the bus to ditch there. Most were interested in the games there and would spend all school day playing King of Fighters of Marvel vs Capcom, but others were just interested in cutting class and would tag up the machines or romance their significant others in the restroom (I've personally seen this happen before). Others would come in drunk or sneak beer in and drink inside. Supposedly one girl got kicked out when she got into the fight with the owner while drunk and she was banned... or at least, that's what I've heard.

This arcade was popular for fighting games, especially KoF. This arcade is mentioned as a mini-tourney spot in November of 2005 in a fighting games forum.

I know I'm making it sound like it was a rough spot to visit, but there is a reason why arcades were seen as delinquent hot spots in the 80s and 90s. I personally never had any problems with anyone at the Underground Arcade, but many agree, including me, that it would get pretty rowdy in there at times.

The arcade cabinet graveyard.

Final Analysis:

A lot of good memories in this place. It was one of the last old school arcades before they became the nostalgic, retro-style attractions of today. I would spend hours here jumping from machine to machine, then later, just before it shut down, I would play a lot of pool there. I would say despite all its flaws and criticism, this was one of my favorite arcades of all time. The variety, the grit, the soul, I have not encountered another arcade like this since its closing, and I've been to a lot.

 In Los Angeles, I think "Family Arcade" across the street from Los Angeles City College and the arcade at the Santa Monica pier are the last of the old arcades left in the city. There are newer bar arcades dotted all over town, but the ambience is completely different. But anyway, this is just the first entry of many, hopefully you all check regularly while I talk about arcades I visited, or arcades I remember.

Functional machines with screen glare.

PS: If anyone has any memories or photos or history on this arcade, let me know. I'll probably do an update article on it.

Yet Another Blog... A Re-Introduction

So, this is going to be a quick post and a quick intro. Not really going to spend too much time editing it and making it nice. This is probably my fourth blog that I have created, just to share my thoughts and opinions. I wanted to bring back my old name,"The Visual Hobbyist", but it seems that someone else has taken that name in the last five to six years that I was gone, so I'm starting new.

I chose the name, "California Arcade Tourist" (C.A.T.) because I travel a lot and whenever I visit a new town, I don't really go sight-seeing or to museums or other places of "culture", I mostly stick to bars and arcades. It's always a good time, I like to chat and play with local gamers, and honestly, I feel like I learn more about a town's culture and people from drinking and gaming with them.

So I dedicate this blog to all the people I met, and all the arcades I visited; hopefully you are all still playing and having fun. I'll be posting mostly about arcades, but also expect a variety of topics, from reviews to rants and travel.

You see the freakiest things while traveling.